Jade Forest
by wickedlfairy17
Summary: Harry takes the chance to grab hold of his life and his freedom. He leaves the Dursleys to set out on a journey that will change everything. "All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost." Before Hogwarts. Non-creature Fic, Pairings undecided, I do not own Harry Potter but if I did...lol
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. well I was inspired by Evansentranced Fantastic Elves and Where to find them, I had to do it! The idea wouldn't leave me alone!**

**Chapter One: Venturing Out**

**"Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you."-George Whitefield **

The first time the thought of running away came to Harry was a week after starting primary school when he was five. A boy one street over had run away for a day, the whole neighbor had gone looking for him and the Dursleys had talked about the family very snidely afterwards. The boy was found in a few hours and Harry had watched as he was embraced by his parents, his mom had been crying, and thought that if he had run away no one would look for him.

Harry had been told enough stories about the streets, the orphanages and all the other horrors in the world that he hadn't given it much thought at the time. Uncle Vernon had made sure he knew that he should be grateful to them, protecting him from all those horrible things but there was times when Harry still thought about running away. A few weeks later Harry had run into the library seeking sanctuary during recess from Dudley's gang since there was always a teacher in there. The new librarian was a kind, younger looking woman that had brown hair and eyes.

She hadn't tried to chase him out like the other teachers had before and instead asked him if he would like a book to read. Harry had been so surprised at her calm manner that he had immediately agreed and she handed him a chapter book. That had been surprising too since most teachers just assumed he couldn't read all that well, since he looked younger than he actually was. The truth was that Aunt Petunia had taught him to read very young so he could understand the recipes in the cookbooks, and that was also where he had gotten the basics of math.

The book she had handed to him was, _My side of the Mountain_, and within the first pages Harry had been hooked. He actually had gotten to the second chapter before the bell rang summoning them back to class. The librarian had asked if he wanted to check the book out and take it home. Harry had been very tempted but then he had remembered Dudley. Without fail whenever Harry had gotten anything of his own Dudley had systematically destroyed it and Harry hadn't wanted to risk it.

Instead, Harry began to spend every recess, and lunch in the Library reading the book until he had finished. Then he had to read the next two books in the trilogy of course since the first had been so irresistible. It was during this time that the idea of running away from all this began to grow more insistent and more appealing. Reading about how Sam had done it, how it hadn't been easy but it was possible.

The thought of going out into the wilderness somewhere and never having to deal with the Dursleys or other people was very appealing to Harry. He began to picture himself as Sam, with his faithful falcon Frightful and living out there somewhere in a hollowed out tree. Once he had finished those books the librarian was happy to give him the _Hatchet_, another story of a boy out in the wilderness. Brian hadn't chosen to go into the wilderness but he did manage to live out there.

Reading about Sam and then Brain going into the wilderness somewhere and loving it so much was giving birth to an idea in Harry. If Sam could choose to go, if Brain could survive with only a Hatchet, if boys just like him could do it then why couldn't Harry? This gave Harry a lot to think about in the darkness of the cupboard as his stomach groaned from hunger. Thinking about taking his life in his own hands, being able to feed himself and if he went hungry it would be his _own_ doing. Having that control given back to him was so tempting, so alluring that Harry couldn't think about much else.

Harry read Peter Pan, next, with some misgivings that slowly fell away. His relatives always called him a freak, called him abnormal, and he never really understood why. Harry knew strange things happened around him, that sometimes if he really wanted something it would happen but Harry had never really gave it much thought. Now, with the idea of running away, away from the Dursleys and their rules, Harry thought about it.

If he was a freak, if he could do things that other people couldn't and if he was really not human. Did that mean the reason he was treated so badly was because he was somewhere he didn't belong. Thinking about it, it made sense, humans didn't like non-human things very much instinctively. Which made Harry wonder, where did he belong? It was during his deep contemplation of this that the nice librarian brought him a book she thought he might enjoy. The book was called Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Harry read it almost without a thought.

The story started out a bit dry, actually, and allowed Harry to contemplate this whole not belonging here thing. Then the story got interesting when the Lord Greystoke and his fragile wide died leaving their child to be raised by apes in the African jungle. Harry was captivated, the struggle Tarzan felt trying to decide where he belonged. Whether he was an Ape, or whether he was a man. It was hard not to draw parallels, was Harry a freak or was he a person.

**-x-**

**"Life's a journey, not a destination."-Steven tyler**

Harry wasn't sure how the librarian knew it was his birthday but he was more stunned by the fact that she got him a gift more then anything. The box full of books wasn't wrapped, and she hadn't given him more then a happy birthday before she had laid it in his lap, still it was more than anyone had ever done for him. The box was full of books, old, worn books that had been going to given to some charity or other. The librarian had saved him these books from the other 'retired' books and had told them he could have them now.

It was evident that she had picked the selection carefully; taking care to pick ones she must have known he would have wanted. It was a kind gesture and Harry was brought to almost tears from her thoughtfulness. However, he had squashed the urge down firmly having been punished too much for expressing such emotion. There were a few survival guides, an animal guidebook, a few instruction books on how to build some things like braiding rope and hammocks. There were a few books from the Tarzan series and a new book call The Jungle Book that looked interesting. He got his own copy of My side of the Mountian and the Hatchet.

Harry was six now, he had spent a long time considering his situation of life and preparing for what he knew in his heart he had already decided. He had long since started to gather supplies for his run, he had it stashed under some loose floorboards in an little used classroom at the back of the school. He had a backpack full to the bursting with a blanket, some spare clothes, a knife he had managed to steal from a hardware store, some canned food he had gotten from a dumpster and matches. A few maps he had taken from a tour guide shop and a few other things he thought might be useful like needles, thread and some string.

In all Harry thought he might be ready today, it was getting close to winter and Harry knew he couldn't put off for much longer. If he didn't leave soon he would have to wait for summer and he didn't want to put it off that long for fear of losing the nerve to go through with it. Looking at the books Harry thought he might be able to squeeze them into his bag without too much trouble and if he left now it would give him time to get pretty far before the Dursleys would notice him missing.

Harry had some money squirreled away in the backpack that he had managed to get from running errands and occasionally stealing from various people. He didn't feel as much guilt stealing as he thought he should, Harry thought that might be because he didn't think he had really hurt anyone taking the little he had. The money he had would get him pretty far on the train and then he could be farther then he could ever get on foot.

He made the decision to go, it would be the best birthday present he could give himself getting out from under the oppression of the Dursleys. Harry wrote a quick note to the Librarian to say goodbye, he told he a bit about why he was leaving and thanked her for how kind she always treated him. He left it under a pile of books he knew she was going through to check back into the library and knew she wouldn't find it for a while yet. He grabbed his things and headed for his stash making sure no one saw him heading that way so he had a chance to get out without notice.

Once he grabbed his backpack he changed his shirt to the best one he had, it was still ratty but it was much better then the one he had on. Hopefully the change of clothes would keep people from noticing him if his relatives reported him missing sooner than he thought they would. Getting to the station would take some time, but Harry was sure he could before the school hours ended. He managed it just barely and had a hell of a time convincing the attendant to sell him a ticket but somehow he managed it.

Harry wasn't even sure where he was going but he bought the ticket to the furthest place he could afford. The train ride was quiet; people didn't like to meet each other's eyes on the train lest they invite unwanted conversation from their fellow passengers. This did wonders for keeping his presence unnoticed in the back corner of the car and Harry wanted to keep it that way. He pulled out his new book The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling was a lot like his favorite books. It was about a boy that was raised by wolves and had found friends in a panther and a bear. He made an enemy of a tiger named Sher Khan though.

The scenery flew by, slowly changing from concrete cities to farmland. The change was amazing, and the excitement Harry felt within was building higher the farther they went. The attendant didn't really pay him much mind and this allowed Harry to get further than his ticket would normally had allowed. He stepped off the train a few stops before the last stop since that would be harder to remember if the Bobbies ever questioned the attendant.

The town he was in was small and filled with mostly farms, surrounded by woods at the edges. Harry thought he picked a great place to start his journey but it had gotten pretty dark so Harry knew he had to find a place to sleep soon. He made his way to the woods, it took him some time but he managed to not get very lost on his way. Harry climbed up a sturdy looking tree that had thick branches that interwove together making it hard to see anything from the ground. He avoided the nests as best he could, not wanting to get an angry bird making a ruckus at the moment. Then he curled his blanket around him when he found a good place to sleep in the branches and fell asleep easily.

**-x-**

**"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey." -Pat Conroy **

It took a while to get his bearings, living in the woods was very different from living in the cupboard and getting food was very different also. Harry had taken to sleeping in the trees while he searched for a more secure place to hunker down for winter. He knew that it was better to take the risk of staying put then to try and find a further place with winter to close. So he searched, he gathered what he could from the woods for food and only went into town at night to forage through the dumpsters behind markets.

Harry had thought about Sam's hollowed out tree, but there was nothing like that in these woods that he had found. He didn't think he would have to hollow out one in time so he began looking for an unoccupied cave or some such thing. That was easier said then done, so when he found a large tree that had a very small hollowed out place under its roots he took it. It was smaller than the cupboard but Harry started to dig it out right away to give himself more room. It was hard work, he could only use his hands and the soil was hard packed around the roots making it hard to expand his little burrow.

When he managed to get it to be about twice the size of his old cupboard Harry decided it was large enough to begin readying it for his uses. He fashioned a door of sorts from fallen branches, mud, his string and some moss to blend it in. What he got was a cover to the entrance of his little burrow that would keep the creatures out and his little burrow from prying human eyes. There was a small river not to far from his burrow that he caught fish from using the bugs he had gotten from digging his burrow out. He had plenty of books, canned food, he had his blanket and he was working on trying to make a fireplace of some sort.

Harry avoided going into the town as much as he could to avoid being taken note of since in places this small his appearance would immediately be noticed. When he did go into town it was always at night and he was very cautious to stay out of sight from other people. There was a church that always left its doors open for people; they had donation storage in the back that was mostly left alone until around Christmas time. They gathered all sorts of things throughout the year and gave most of those things out during the holidays surrounding winter.

They left it alone since it was just the beginning of September and they didn't have any major holidays coming yet, not till November. There, Harry managed to get a lot of valuable things for winter, lots more blankets, a flashlight, some pots and pans. He got a few more books there, some warmer clothes, coats, sweaters, scarves and mittens. He also managed to get a lot of canned food from there, a bigger knife, some rope and a toy or two. There was so much stuff there that no one noticed the few things he had taken and he knew he would be able to make it through winter.

He spent most of his time squirreling away food, reinforcing the walls of his burrow and trying to figure out how to get his little fireplace working. The first few attempts had only managed to fill his burrow with smoke and sending him coughing out into the woods. It was a lot of trial and error on it, not only the design but also what he could burn safely. Harry didn't want to draw attention to his burrow under the tree with black smoke so he had to figure out how to make his smoke white since it would blend better. At night, if he wasn't too tired he read his books using the flashlight.

It was a little lonely but Harry was finding he was enjoying being free. Harry had taken to being a wild child like a fish to water, he gathered feathers and knotted them in his hair. He only washed when he had to since it was getting so cold out and he made sure to keep his bathroom place a ways away from his burrow. Before Harry knew it, snow began to fall, and the boots he had gotten from the church were put to good use. The boots were big on him but it was better than going barefoot.

He managed to get his little fireplace working and his burrow was actually much more comfortable than his cupboard ever was. It was a little lonely with no one to talk to, but Harry didn't want to risk everything he had managed by talking to the children in the town. He had thought about Sam's falcon Frightful, Tarzan's Apes, and Mowgli's bear Bloo. Harry thought he might like an animal companion of his own but he didn't have the faintest idea on how to get one.

It was while he was out looking for more firewood to bring back to the burrow to dry that he heard the sound of someone moving noisily through his woods. Harry quickly scrambled up a tree to hide, people rarely looked up when searching and he felt safer up there anyways. Harry was glad he had managed to learn how to move quietly through the woods because he was sure he would have been discovered already had he not. The woman was cursing under her breath when she came into sight; she was dressed strangely with mismatched brightly colored clothes and was wearing a pointy hat. She was carrying bags in both her hands that looked much to big for her to carry even one and on her back was a large canvas backpack that stood out in its plainness in comparison to her other things.

Harry managed to only pick up a few words, "…Merlin damned ingredients…I'll show you…I can get my own potion ingredients…Merlin damned snow…bloody muggles…can't use magic…." She was making her way through the snow but it was slow going with all her things weighing her down. She stopped under his tree that he was hiding in, and for a heart stopping moment Harry thought she must have notice him. But, no, she was putting down her things and shrugging off her backpack. Harry dared not move for fear of her hearing him.

Once she had all her things down she looked around suspiciously, as if to check to make sure she was all alone. Thankfully for Harry she hadn't thought to look up and she pulled out a thin stick a moment later. Harry watched with awe as she flicked the stick around and did some impossible things. The snow around the tree disappeared, a tent whizzed out of one of her packs and set up itself not to far from her. Her canvas backpack floated to her and she reached into it practically having to climb into it to retrieve a small rock from its main pocket.

Harry was struck dumb at seeing her do that since it would be beyond useful to have something that looked so small fit so much. She tossed the backpack at the base of the tree without a care and tapped the stone with her stick making it glow. Harry felt something wash over him as she did so and with a sinking stomach he began to realize it was too late to leave now. He was sure that if he left the woman would somehow know now and began to settle in to wait.

When the woman dragged her two other bags into the tent Harry caught a glimpse of the inside of it, and found that the tent was also much bigger in than out. She got her backpack a moment later but only used it to prop her entrance open. Harry found his gaze continuing to fall on her backpack, it was small but it was a bit bigger than the one he had now. It was covered in pocket, pockets he was sure were much bigger in then out if he followed her trend and Harry couldn't help but wonder about it's contents.

What would be in this fantastical bag from this magical woman? What wonders would he find if he took a peek? Could he grab it without her noticing? He quickly became obsessed with it, and wanted the bag more then anything ever in his short life. His old pack was on his back at the moment, holding what little firewood he had managed to get and Harry sat in his tree plotting. It grew dark, the woman fell asleep and he could hear the faint sound of snoring within the tent before he dared to move from his perch.

He moved as quietly as possible down the tree, his heart was fluttering like a hummingbird in his chest in nervous anticipation, as he got closer to the ground. Harry winced with his feet crunched from the snow but the woman was still sleeping soundly though so Harry kept going. He grabbed her bag slowly replacing it with his own, and then he just as slowly crept away from her campsite. As soon as he felt her magic slip away from him Harry made a break for it running as fast as his limbs could carry him to his burrow.

Harry didn't feel safe until he was tucked away in his burrow with the cover on over the entrance and he heard no sound of pursuit for a good twenty minutes. Luckily it was still snowing so any tracks would be soon covered and Harry made himself step lightly so he hadn't left much of a trial to begin with anyway. He clutched his prize to him, his heart beating rapidly inside his chest and tried to calm down. He reached for his flashlight and grabbed his animal guidebook to him along with it hoping to distract himself from his harrowing adventure.

The guidebook had all sorts of animals listed, Harry was hoping that he would be able to discover a way to get his own animal companion from it. The book described a lot of things like habitats, known reserves, diets, and behaviors. It was a very interesting read and got Harry relaxed enough to sleep. The next day, Harry stayed in his burrow because he didn't want to risk being discovered by that woman. He had enough food and water to last him a few days so he thought he would be fine as long as he only went out to use the bathroom at night.

The backpack was really a bag of wonders, it had so many things inside it that Harry wasn't sure he had enough room to dump the back out of its contents in the burrow. So he settled for taking out things one thing at a time and examining it before putting it back. There were a lot of books inside the pack, fantastical books Harry could hardly wait to read with titles like: Moste Potent Potions, One thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Talismans the lost art, Potions: A beginners guide to harvesting ingredients, A beginners guide to Enchantments, One thousand uses for Ancient Runes, Magical Woods of Great Britain: the survival guide, A Monster book of Monster (that was lashed closed with a lot of rope), and The Comprehensive guide to becoming a Potion Master (the thickest book of the whole lot).

There were a lot of knives in it, of all shapes and size. A lot of empty jars, a small pair of scaly looking gloves, a few cauldrons of many different shapes and sizes. The bag had so many things Harry was sure he would never find the end to the useful mysteries of his new pack. He felt little guilt over grabbing the bag from that woman, she had plenty of stuff and she seemed to have a mean temperament. In the jungle you took what you could and if you weren't strong enough to keep your things you didn't deserve to have them.

**-**x-

**"No matter where you are, you're always a bit on your own, always an outsider." -Banana Yoshimoto **

Spring came slowly, and Harry watched the blanket of snow melt away to reveal the sleeping world beneath with some interest. He had spent most of the winter reading his magical books, mapping out where he was and where he planned to go. Along with trying to discover what he could take with him and what he had to leave behind. Thanks to his Canvas pack he had to leave significantly less than he would have had to otherwise. Figuring out how to work his pack had been a challenge Harry had enjoyed and he was excited to be moving on soon.

Harry wasn't sure where he was going to go, the maps he had didn't show the magical forests and his guide book only contained the vaguest of directions. The woman he had taken the pack from was a witch, he was sure of it but Harry wasn't quite sure what that made him. He knew he was different; he was a freak among humans when he had lived among the Dursleys but he was sure he wasn't a witch either. Witches were girls and they needed things like wands for magic by his understanding.

Though it was a big relief to know that it was magic that made him different but now he was stuck with a conundrum of what he was exactly as freak was such a general term. The Monster book of Monsters hadn't helped him out much since it didn't have many humanoid creatures inside it (it had taken him forever to figure out how to open it without losing a finger). He doubted he was a werewolf, a mermaid, a house elf, a fairy, a Valcore, or any form of troll. So Harry was left wondering what he was exactly and what wouldn't be covered in the Monster book of Monsters.

Harry decided that he would visit the next town's library before he began his new journey to see if he could discover what sort of creature he could be. It had to be a creature that could pass easily as a human for an extended period of time, something that had magic, and maybe preferred to dwell in forests away from people. Harry felt more at home in the woods than he ever had living with the Dursleys and thought maybe whatever he was must live in the forest naturally. This discovery did bring to light an idea of what might have made the Dursleys treat him so horribly. After all, what human left a child on a doorstep at night in winter? Whatever left him must have known he would be all right in the cold temperature…that he was a creature of some sort not a person.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.: Well here it is! Lol took me long enough! I was having some issues with the flow and well I finally decided to just post this chapter at this length instead of trying to make it longer and with less flow. Please read & review and let me know how I did! Many thanks to everyone who has dropped me a review and encouraged me to continue this story!**

**Chapter 2: Capturing a Friend**

**-x-**

"**There comes . . . a longing never to travel again except on foot."****–Wendell Berry  
**

Harry carved a small **HP** on the base of the tree that held his burrow and took one last look around at the woods that had housed him during winter. He threw his canvas pack over his shoulder and got out his map from one of the side pockets. He was headed to the Hainault Forest that was once a part of the huge forest of Essex, and according to the Magical forest survival guide, the forest still fairly big. It was still called Essex in the Magical Survival guide and the guide said it was largely unexplored since it was so large. It had generally avoided since it was so large it was said to house a very diverse magical creature population.

Of course going to Essex meant that he would have to pass more populated places on the way but Harry thought that would be to his advantage since it would be less likely for people to notice him. He had managed to get enough money together from various places and pockets that he would be able use to take a train for most of the way. Harry would have preferred to walk to avoid the people but it would have taken him too long.

He had gotten a new shirt from the church that made him a bit more presentable and he made sure to wash thoroughly in the stream before heading to the station. Then it was only a matter of telling the attendant a story about getting off at the wrong stop and needing to get back home in order to get a ticket. He hadn't had enough for the full ride but the attendant was an older woman and she gave him a ticket for the whole way.

This train ride was very similar to the one he had taken leaving the Dursleys except he had to get off and on to other trains sometimes. Everyone still kept mostly to himself or herself, not wanting to met anyone's eyes and invite unwanted advances. The trains did get more crowded for a while and Harry entertained himself with the Jungle Book along with his animal guide. He wondered if there were any wolves in the magical part of Essex, real wolves that is, not werewolves.

In normal Britain wolves had been hunted to extinction, however, Harry wondered if any had survived by hiding in the hidden magical parts. It would be awesome to have a wolf companion, like Mowgli, a friend Harry could hunt with like Sam had with Frightful. Harry figured a wolf might be a bit easier to train than a bird but Harry wouldn't mind a bird either. The town he stopped in was as close to Essex Harry knew he could get and even then he would be walking for a week or two to get there.

Luckily they had a library and a few small woods that he could hide in to sleep at night. Harry was nervous being around so many people after spending so many months on his own and didn't want to get caught now. He resolved to find a way to travel that exposed him less than his train method. Though he didn't think very many people would look for him, the Dursleys certainly wouldn't want him to be found and the Bobbies tended to give up after a month or so.

The Library was smaller than the one in Surrey but it was big enough that it had its own myth/fiction sections. Harry spent the first few days looking through all he could find on magical creatures that took human form. He didn't have much more luck here than he had with the Monster book of Monsters. He wasn't a Dryad, naiad, fairy, brownie, selkie, Kitsune, Jinn, Genie, Cyclops, mogag, or a god of some sort. He was too big to be an abatwa, or any of the wee folk. He was too young to be a wizard, sorcerer, or mage. He didn't think he was an elf either since he didn't think he had unnatural beauty or pointed enough ears to meet the requirements.

The closest thing he got was the Sidhe of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Though he didn't feel that was a very good match since he didn't feel inclined to either help people or harm people as he would much rather avoid them all together. Sighing Harry decided that it was unlikely he was going to discover what he was in a non-magical library since there must be whole races of magical creatures they had no idea about. Harry wasn't even sure that the witch folk knew since the Monster book of Monsters didn't have anything like him and they had nothing on Jinn, Selkies, Brownies or mogags.

Harry thought that if he explored all the magical forests of Britain he might just find something like himself somewhere in their depths. For now Harry would just have to accept freak as a general title until he discovered just what the heck he actually was and got the right word for it. He spent the rest of the time looking through the library for any new books that he might like to take with him since by now he had already read, reread, and read again all the books he had on him. The Magical ones where slower going since he didn't always recognize the words used, or the instructions for the potions. Maybe if he got some math books and a dictionary he might be able to understand them better.

**-x-**

"**The seeker embarks on a journey to find what he wants and discovers, along the way, what he needs."**** -Wally Lamb**

Essex was nothing like Harry had ever expected, it was as foreign as it was familiar and journeying through the forest was a curious thing. The paths seemed to have a mind of their own, changing direction at a moment's notice and Harry learned very quickly to avoid them. Essex had a wider variety of plants, animals, and many other odd magical things that Harry wasn't quite sure what to categorize as yet. There were normal plants and animals living in the forest side by side their magical counter parts.

The first time he had made the mistake of eating a fruit that looked like a normal apple but was actually some sort of magical fruit Harry had been seeing smells for an hour after the fact. Some magical things were easy to identify, a floating orange plum that only appeared between the times of noon and one. Others were harder to spot, like the apple that made it possible for you to see smells or the rabbit looking things that had fangs that popped out only when near prey.

Harry found that he never really needed to leave Essex; there were plenty of fresh streams, a few ponds, and even a lake. There was plenty of food available to him and as long as he was careful it wasn't too dangerous. He stayed in the branches of the trees to sleep at night and was very cautious during the day. It was trial and error figuring out what animals, magical or otherwise he could eat safely. Since things here tended to surprise and mystify him at a moment's notice Harry got used to being very cautious on what he hunted.

Before, in his first forest he had survived on mostly scavenging from the nearby town or the fish from his little river. Now, with such abundance around him Harry had no need to make the journey to the outlying towns that surrounded Essex and in turn had much more time to explore. He found the wolf den by accident one day as he was teaching himself to slowly travel by using the tree branches like Tarzan had in his books.

The wolf pack was very unexpected because the animal guide he had gotten had said that the native wolves had been hunted to extinction in Britain. Of course that had been the non-magical one, and as the Monster book of Monster was for magical creatures wolves had not been mentioned (werewolves didn't count). Harry had stopped to study the wolves for a time utterly fascinated since there were so many milling around the den.

The wolves were huge, bigger than Harry had thought they could be since he had expected something like a dog. He watched them as the alpha female, belly heavy with pups, snapped at anyone getting close to her freshly made den. The other wolves sniffed at her curiously while the Alpha male stood on the look out proudly. It was as he was looking at the pregnant wolf that Harry remembered his desire for a companion to end his loneliness.

He hadn't thought about a wolf, mainly because Aunt Marge's dogs were so horrible and the old thought that they were extinct here anyway. But now as he gazed down at them, at how regal and beautiful they looked Harry couldn't help thinking about having a wolf companion of his own. Mowgli had been raised by wolves…and they were so different from dogs. He could train a wolf puppy to hunt with him and when it got bigger they could hunt for bigger game than Harry could otherwise. It would be so nice having someone to talk to, to share his joys and his pains with.

**-x-**

"**Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." –C.S. Lewis **

Since he discovered the wolf pack Harry had been a very busy boy, were before he had spent most of his time getting food, preparing for winter and reading. Now it was very different, he had been fine with choosing a different tree every night to sleep in but now he wanted a companion. Now he wanted a wolf pup, so Harry knew he needed a place to raise said pup for a while so he needed a more permanent base. So he set about constructing a sort of tree house that was near a small river and an orchard of fruit trees.

It was a made mostly out of gathered branches, sticks, packed together with clay from a magical cave for sturdiness and covered with carefully gathered moss from the fairy mounds. It was mostly a platform that was about as big as his old cupboard with raised edges to keep the pup from falling out. Harry had taken to gathering not only what he needed to survive from the forest but also things that interested him. He had one of his jars full of gathered unicorn hairs carefully gathered from snagged branches and grass.

Harry had another full of Pegasus feathers, the ones that hadn't made it into his hair at least. His hair was a rainbow for feathers now, carefully braided into his hair snuggly to his scalp. He had found all sorts of feathers in his travels around Essex, gold feathers, green feathers, white, blue, small, large, magical and normal. His favorite was a long golden-red feather he had dangling just behind his left ear that Harry suspected had once belonged to a phoenix as it always carried low warmth like an ember from a fireplace. He had been proud of that find since it was from the top most part of the tallest tree in the forest that Harry had climbed one day just to prove to himself that he could.

He had a jar half full of fairy dust that he had carefully gathered in the hopes of maybe using it like Peter Pan had in his book. It glowed in faintly in the dark and Harry had taken to using it as a night-light. He had a small collection of stones that he had risked life and limb excavating from a dwarf mine that was on the eastern ridge of the forest. In all he had begun a small collection of marvelous and wonderful things, some that weren't even in his magical books.

Harry had begun to notice a subtle change recently that he suspected was a result from eating magical food and creatures alongside the normal ones. He had of course abstained from eating anything that could talk since he felt that it would be a bit like eating a person and not so desirable. Or anything that he couldn't consider prey like unicorns or particularly pretty birds. However, he had been eating a lot more magical plants and animals then the normal counterparts since Essex had such an abundance of them.

The change he had begun to notice was that he was sleeping less without feeling tired, he was beginning to just 'sense' when something was magical and his eyesight was improving more every day. Harry thought that maybe it was the magic he was getting from eating these things that was changing him. Harry decided he would continue his diet of exotic things, because he was curious to how far these changes would go.

He paid close attention to the pregnant wolf, he noted when she gave birth and marked the days after to measure the growth of the yet unseen puppies. He would have to get one young, young enough to tame and train. However, the puppy would have to be old enough to survive without its mother and so Harry waited counting the days. He would need to take one at the first opportunity after 14 days since the side note in his animal book said that wolf pups needed to be socialized early and isolated from other canines.

Harry had already made the risky trip into town for bottles to feed the puppy with and was using some of his free jars to gather milk from the various magical creatures that were docile enough to milk. The good thing about spring was that there were a lot of animals giving birth and so there was an abundance of sources for milk. He had discovered that the jars he had gained from the canvas bag had all sort of magic on them for preserving things. It was lucky he had taken the pack from such a prepared witch.

When the time came to get the puppy Harry was ready, he knew the pack's habits by now and had a loose plan in mind. The pack always hunted around the same times, the den only had three wolves during that time and their attention was on making sure no one came near the den's entrance. Harry wasn't going for the entrance though; no he was going to the back of the den where he had dug slowly a tunnel over the last two weeks.

Getting into the den had been surprisingly easy…getting a pup and getting out he wasn't too sure yet. Luckily the mother was sleeping, he was currently downwind and a pup had wandered off from the pack so he gently grabbed it putting it in a sling he had around his chest before he covered up his entrance to the tunnel. Then it was a straight shot out the back and then he was running like the wolves were nipping at his heels. All in all…it went smoother than he had a expected and once he made it back to his nest he pulled out the pup to study it.

It was a boy; he was a pretty dark gray color with bits of black on his front paws and around his left ear. He was so small barely bigger than his hand and his eyes were still sealed shut. Harry smiled at the puppy; he needed a name…Harry had never named anything before so he took it very seriously. It had to be something that showed how close they would be to each other, this puppy would be his first friend, his very first companion and he wanted his name to be special.

Thinking about it Harry thought about the thing he liked most about himself…his lighting bolt scar, there were quite a few gods that owned that symbol too. Looking at the puppy he smiled as he petted his coat slowly, "I'll name you Thor!" Harry felt very proud of the name, Thor was a good name for a strong wolf and Harry didn't doubt he would be a strong puppy.

**-x-**

"Every step you take is a step away from where you used to be." ~Brain Chargualaf

Now that Harry had Thor, it seemed his whole life had changed from just surviving to something else entirely. Thor went with him everywhere in his sling tied to Harry's chest, and Harry talked to him about everything. From why he felt he had to run away, to his confusion about what exactly he was, to his suspicions on how his magical food diet was affecting him, and about how lonely he had been his whole life until he had Thor.

Thor was growing slowly, but he was fat on the milk Harry gathered being very well fed. His eyes had just begun to open and were a pretty golden brown color. Harry let him wander all over the nest, and the forest floor when he could do so safely since it was dangerous for anyone in Essex. Harry was beginning to recognize Thor's different sounds, his whines, his yeps, his growls, his whimpers, and his small howls. He had even begun to mimic them in hopes that one day they could talk to each other instead of just him spilling his heart out.

He was still dedicated to preparing for winter, since his current abundance would not last forever, it helped that he had a nest now so he had some place to keep his things besides his backpack. He had managed to carve some runes in around his nest to keep everything but him and Thor out of his things. He was working on a set that would keep the snow and cold out next that would go onto the roof part when he finished building it.

Harry was working on making his nest more like a cocoon nest so that they would stay there during winter comfortably. It was nice, having a friend but it was also very scary. Now it wasn't just Harry who would be hurt if he was careless and unprepared…now Thor would be hurt to. So preparation was the key, prepare for winter, prepare for danger, and it was very dizzying business. Being prepared for anything…made Harry paranoid about _everything_. Still. Thor was growing, Harry was genuinely happy and he was still better fed than if he had stayed with the Dursleys. 


End file.
